Fried Ice Cream

Fried Ice Cream

By Kelly Bogard

Let the fried food fest begin. It’s fair season in Texas. From county fairs to state events like the Heart O’ Texas Fair & Rodeo here in Waco and the State Fair of Texas in Dallas, lots of food will be fried. And memories made!

When I think of fair food, turkey legs, giant corn on the cob and sausage on a stick come to mind. But I also can’t wait to see what fried concoction vendors will come up with each year.

One of my favorite fair foods as a kid was hot on the outside and frozen inside—fried ice cream.

The hot, crispy shell of fried ice cream has always amazed me. How can something be hot on the outside and so cold on the inside? Come to find out a hard frozen coated ice cream ball that is flash fried is how this happens so let’s try it out.

Start by scooping your ice cream into plastic wrap and forming into balls. I make mine a little larger than an average scoop of ice cream. Then, move them to the freezer to firm up for about an hour.

While the balls are freezing, combine the graham crackers and pecans in a food processor and grind them into a fine powder. You can also use this time to crush the corn flakes into smaller pieces.

Once the balls are frozen again, make an assembly line with the graham cracker base, beaten egg and corn flakes. Roll and pat the ice cream with the graham crackers to cover. Then dip and roll in the egg and finally crust with pressure to stick the corn flakes on. Once you go through all of the steps, move the coated ball to a baking sheet and back into the freezer for at least four hours.

When you are ready to serve your ice cream, heat frying oil in a pot to 400 degrees. Slide one ice cream ball at a time into the oil for about 15 seconds. As soon as you see it starting to turn golden, remove it. Repeat as needed for the servings you need and serve immediately.

This is a great surprise on so many levels. Just like the surprises waiting for you at the fair each year. Let me know what your favorite fair foods are and maybe I can try them out here sometime. From all of us at Texas Table Top, enjoy!

Kelly Bogard is the official Texas Table Top food editor, chef, food stylist/photographer and more. When she’s not busy cooking up a delicious recipe for Texas Table Top, she and her husband “D” are busy trying to keep up with their daughter “Butters” and enjoy anything outdoors